1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to firearms and to an apparatus and method for using a firearm to stop a fleeing terrorist, criminal or other suspect. In another aspect, the invention relates to illumination with an implement holder such as a firearm. More specifically, an illumination device and firearm are held within a container for secure mounting to a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98xe2x80x94Small caliber firearms tend to be hand held, such as pistols or rifles. Aiming a hand held firearm is a matter of individual skill. Sometimes the shooter will sight along a barrel to approximate a point where the shot will land. Sighting aids commonly include telescopes mounted to the firearm and adjusted by trial and error to align with path of the shot as perfectly as the shooter can determine. Adjustable mounting devices allow the telescope to adjusted in two axes, generally termed elevation and windage. Such adjustments allow the telescope to be pre-sighted to the likely path of a fired bullet. In addition, the shooter has the option to modify the settings to account for ambient conditions, such as to compensate for a cross-wind or to compensate for an unusually long or short intended length of the shot.
A much improved sighting aid is the laser scope, which is mounted to the firearm and aimed much like a telescope. However, the shooter need not hold the firearm at eye level. A laser light beam projects along the path onto the target and can be viewed while the firearm is held in any desired position.
Small caliber firearms have departed from being hand held for many special purposes. For military use in the early days of aviation, firearms became mounted to aircraft in a fixed position, so that the pilot could aim only by pointing the aircraft directly at the target. Remote firing mechanisms were devised to work in combination with the continuing need to fly the aircraft. Thus, a remote switch was conveniently mounted on the flight controls to fire the aircraft""s weapons through suitable electrical or mechanical means.
A variety of recent patent art shows many improvements in the aiming and remote firing of small caliber firearms. U.S. Pat. No. 6,374,525 to Thomas discloses an electronically switched ignition system that, while still fired by a mechanically pulled trigger, easily could be adapted for remote firing by sending an electrical signal. U.S. Pat. No. 6,295,754 to Otteman et al. shows an aiming device for a telescopic sight. The substitution of a laser scope for a telescopic sight would allow equally beneficial aiming of the laser beam. U.S. Pat. No. 6,295,753 to Thummel shows a laser precision bore sight assembly, in which a laser device is mounted on the forward end of an elongated guide that is inserted down the front end of a firearm barrel. Guided and aimed by the barrel itself, the laser beam shows where the firearm is aimed with high precision. This type of aiming device appears useful when a firearm is mounted in a fixed position, such as to a bench vise, and would provide a way to align a scope to a firearm without the necessity of firing the firearm. Mounting devices for firearms often are used, which include not only bench vices but other shooting supports. U.S. Pat. No. 6,338,218 to Hegler shows a supporting device that allows the firearm to be finely aligned for aiming.
Thus, firearms can be mounted to a fixed base and given a predetermined alignment with respect to such base for aiming purposes. Sights such as laser scopes can be mounted to a firearm or in association with a firearm and adjusted to project the laser beam at a predetermined target location. However, despite these known abilities, one area stands out as needing practical improvement.
Police and other security agencies are called upon to capture suspected criminals. High speed automobile chases are known to result. While police may be well-trained in driving skills for conducting such chases, unexpected and accidental events can occur. The suspect may exceed his own driving skills and crash his car. Bystanders in cars or on foot are at risk of injury from any of the participants in the chase. On occasion, police and the fleeing suspect exchange gun fire, creating further risk of accidental injury to bystanders. It is clearly in the public interest that chases of this type be terminated quickly and with minimum danger to bystanders. Further, with increasing concerns over possible terrorist acts, it is vital that the police have a quick and effective way of capturing fleeing suspects, rather than the sometimes suggested alternative of deferring their capture by refusing to engage in the chase.
Police may try to end a car chase quickly by shooting the tires of the fleeing vehicle, but this can be risky and difficult. A hand held, hand aimed firearm, used from a moving car, will be inaccurate. Because the firearm typically is held out a side window of a moving car, the police cannot aim the firearm even by the primitive expedient method of sighting down the barrel. A laser sight could improve this situation slightly, but the police officer still would find the firearm supported by his wavering arm, held out a side window of a bouncing car in the buffeting force of the air from the speed of the car. Clearly, it would be desirable to have a method of shooting out the tires of a fleeing car with improved accuracy, thus more rapidly terminating situations of hot pursuit and restoring safer conditions for the benefit of all concerned, including those involved in the car chase and any bystanders.
In addition, the rights and unknown circumstances of the fleeing suspect should be considered. In the worst case the suspect may be involved in serious crime for which extreme measures are justified. However, in other cases it may be unknown or unclear what a suspect has done or why the suspect is fleeing. Thus, the police may hesitate to fire bullets at each and every fleeing car, as the chances of injuring the fleeing suspect may be inappropriately great. Even carefully shooting at the tires of a fleeing vehicle can endanger the occupants. A sufficiently large bullet can disintegrate a tire, immediately causing the fleeing driver to lose control of his car. It would be impractical for police to carry special ammunition for their side arms, for use only in car chases. Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus associated with police cars, themselves, that can stop a fleeing vehicle with a reasonable opportunity for the fleeing driver to maintain control.
To achieve the foregoing and other objects and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the method and apparatus of this invention may comprise the following.
Against the described background, it is therefore a general object of the invention to provide an apparatus and method for disabling a pursued land vehicle to end a chase. A related object is to provide a pre-positioned projectile launcher and targeting device, mounted on a pursuit vehicle, to enable a projectile to be fired with reasonable accuracy at a tire of a pursued vehicle.
Another object is provide a protective environment on the pursuit vehicle for the targeting device and projectile launcher so that they are kept reasonably clean and ready for use until they are needed.
The invention provides an apparatus that is suited to disable an inflated tire of a pursued land vehicle. The apparatus includes both a projectile suited for puncturing an inflated tire and a pursuit vehicle that carries and launches the projectile from a position trailing the pursued vehicle. The pursuit vehicle also carries a remote targeting device in a suitable position to identify a target area on an inflated tire of the pursued vehicle. A projectile launcher carries the projectile and launches it when suitably triggered. The launcher is mounted on the pursuit vehicle in a preselected position with respect to the targeting device for launching the projectile at the identified target area. An electrically operated, remote triggering device selectively causes the projectile launcher to launch the projectile at the identified target area, puncturing and thereby disabling the tire of the pursued vehicle.
According to another aspect, the invention provides a method of disabling a pursued land vehicle traveling on an inflated tire along a first path of travel, from a pursuit vehicle traveling along a second path of travel in a relatively trailing position. First, the projectile launcher and targeting device are aligned so that a target area identified by the targeting device is in a mutual proximity to the path of a projectile launched from the projectile launcher. Second, the projectile launcher and targeting device are mounted to a pursuit vehicle in a predetermined position such that the targeting device can identify a target area generally forward of the pursuit vehicle and at a height within a typical tire height above ground level. Third, the pursuit vehicle is positioned with respect to the pursued land vehicle such that the targeting device identifies a target area on an inflated tire of the pursued land vehicle. Fourth, the projectile launcher is actuated to launch a projectile at the target area, thereby puncturing an inflated tire and disabling the pursued land vehicle.